Lawyers for Clare woman Sharon Collins have outlined 4 grounds of appeal against her conviction for soliciting a hitman to murder her wealthy lover and his two sons.

The 46 year old from Kildysart in Ennis is currently serving 6 years for the plot against businessmen PJ, Robert and Niall Howard in September 2006.

The court has heard the prosecution now accepts Sharon Collins should not have been convicted on 3 counts of conspiracy to murder.

Her co-accused Essam Eid – the alleged hitman – was cleared on these charges and was instead convicted of trying to extort €100,000 from Robert Howard to call off the contract on his life.

Eid has now dropped his appeal against conviction and will challenge his 6 year sentence at a hearing tomorrow.

The 2008 trial of Sharon Collins heard she used an alias ‘lyingeyes’ on the internet to hire Eid to kill off the Howard family in order to get at PJ’s €60 million fortune which his sons were due to inherit.

Her lawyers are today appealing her 3 solicitation to murder charges on 4 grounds – including the judge’s charge to the jury, and the testimony of Eid’s partner Teresa Engels – a convicted felon in the US.